Mauve-Colored Sympathy
by fallenstar2013
Summary: What happened between the moment Maka met Soul and the first episode in the anime/manga? Whose were those first 98 sould they'd collected? Was Black Star Soul's best friend from the very beginning? How many times did they pass other key characters without even realizing it? Find out how it all happened here! (Warning: Black Star's ego displayed here) Soul Eater (c) Atsushi Ookubo
1. Chapter 1 - Promise

I was almost tired of searching for the right partner when I had entered the piano room and seen him: he had weird white, spiky hair and long fingers that were sliding through the piano's keys… but, most importantly, the posture he held while he played. As the piano's creepy, dark tune resonated within me, I saw boy wave to his song's beat, as if _he_ had written it.

"That's so beautiful," I couldn't help but expressing.  
The boy stopped playing and turned to face me. His red eyes scanned me as he said, "It's the kind of person I am."

I noticed in his elegant suit a tag that read "WEAPON". I remember Mama had told me to be patient even if I'd have to spend months while looking for the right partner. Nonetheless, in the end I asked him, "Can you please play some more?"  
"Nah," the weapon boy answered, "I've been playing for a while now. Can _you_ play?"

I was feeling rather comfortable around that boy – and I don't really trust men in general – and answered honestly, "Ehh… I'm not really good at music."  
"Mm… That's too bad," he turned back to play something that sounded like a chromatic scale. After playing five of those scales, he turned back at me and asked, "Have you found a partner yet?"  
"Uh, no… you?"  
"I gotta feelin' she's standing right in front of me," he smiled, revealing a row of sharp teeth. He then finally told me his name, "I'm Soul, Soul the Eater. A weapon, if you could read."  
"I read that, Soru-san," I couldn't help but pronounce his name with my Japanese accent. I managed to control my voice to say, "My name's Maka, Maka Albarn."  
"Nice to meet you, Maka," Soul's smile widened. "Should we report to Sid as team?"  
"Shouldn't we get to know each other before agreeing to this?" I doubted, worried that Soul might be a creep like Papa Death-Scythe.  
"Oh, sure," Soul's sharp teeth disappeared under his thin lips. "My room's not far from here, unless you prefer a motel…"  
"WHAT?!"  
"I was being sarcastic," a drop of drool emerged on the corner of his mouth as his eyes rolled. "Let's just go."

Soul kept quiet all the time we walked over to where Sid-sensei was, and I was trying to talk him out of it. When we approached Sid's desk, Soul quickly grabbed my hand and said, "Yo, Sid."  
"Soul? And Maka?"  
"No, I'm with my little sister," Soul's sarcastic attitude got the best of me. I took the listing notebook Sid was holding and shouted "MAKA CHOP!" as I hit his head with the back of the notebook.  
"Maka!" Sid took the weapon from my hands with his big black hands. "No hitting your new partner!"  
"Sorry, Sid-Sensei," I bowed down as I apologized. "What are we going to do now?"  
"Owwwwwwwww…" Soul rubbed the spot where the Maka Chop had landed. Then he asked, "Now we're gonna be sent to our homes, right?"  
"Not yet," Sid looked at Soul with entertained eyes. "Now we're gonna debrief you on your abilities, responsibilities…"

I ignored the rest of what Sid-sensei said because my parents had told me a long time ago, but I kept a straight face so I didn't look disrespectful. My eyes went over to Soul, who was looking around with an uninterested expression in his face. For a second there, I thought he muttered "Not cool" to himself as we were led to a classroom to be taught about Resonances and stuff like that. After a while, we were led to another classroom to be distributed into the NOT class or the EAT class.

"Huh? Is this some kinda prank?" Soul exclaimed when Papa, who was the one distributing the students, told him to keep away from me.  
"Papa," I intervened, "Soul and I are a team, whether you like it or not, and we're gonna enter the EAT class! Just you watch!"  
"Okay, things just got cool," Soul smiled at me when I extended my hand as a sign that expected him to turn into his weapon form. "Let's go, then."  
"Wha-?" Soul's weapon form was the same as my father's: a scythe. "H-how'm I supposed to fight with a single-edged weapon?"  
"C'mon, Maka," Soul's voice echoed from the scythe in my hands. "It's just like dancing." Sensing my worried silence, he added, "Don't worry. I'll lead, and you just follow."

We put on a good show to Papa, who had no choice but to put us in the EAT class. After finishing all the errands we had to do in our first day as partners, Soul yawned loudly and said, "FINALLY! Time to go home!"  
"You're staying somewhere?" I asked.  
"Sure I am," he answered. "I rented a small apartment not far from here. I still haven't finished movin' in, though, but I think it had two rooms…"  
"Oh, what a relief," I sighed, remembering my mother had told me I'd have to stay in the girls' dorm unless my partner had a place of their own.

I was excited to move into one of those apartments. I promised Soul that I'd be paying half on the rent as soon as I could raise money while he carried half of my luggage. Of course, we didn't expect to be interrupted.

"YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" an already familiar voice came from the far side of the hallway.  
"What the –?" Soul asked just before he was tackled by a spiky-haired boy.  
"MAKA! IS IT TRUE YOU JUST FOUND A PARTNER?!" Black Star asked me with his loud pre-pubert voice.  
"As a matter of fact, kid," Soul groaned from underneath Black Star's feet. "You're steppin' right on top of him!"  
"KID?!" Black Star's eyes went wild as he heard the word. "KIDS ARE SMALL! DOES THAT MEAN YOU CALLED _ME_, THE GREAT BLACK STAR, SMALL?!"  
"Well, _sorry_," Soul said sarcastically, as usual, it appeared, "o grand Black Star. I didn't know you were so important."  
"'Big' is a more accurate word," the blue-haired boy replied. "And I recommend you don't try and steal my spotlight, new guy!"  
"Hmmm… Well, I'll remember that, then," Soul decided to try and stay in Black Star's good side for now.  
Black Star helped Soul Eater to his feet and carried the entire luggage both he and I were struggling with until then. Once we entered the apartment, Black Star whistled and said the place needed both a woman's touch and an autograph from him. He immediately pulled out a permanent marker from his pocket and scribbled his autograph on the front door so we could remember him every time we went out, which got him a Maka Chop from me. Soul laughed as I carried the "big" boy into the couch in front of the TV and sat beside him.

"Friend of yours?" he asked with a chuckle.  
"Yeah," I answered. "We met a long time ago, the first day my father took me to Shibusen."  
"About your father…" he looked serious now. "He's not really cool…"  
"He's the worst!" I couldn't help shouting. "He's been cheating on Mama for years! I can't believe they even got married!"  
"Oh, shaddup," Black Star groaned as he recovered consciousness. "The Death Scythe is a doofus. I bet you'd make a better Death Scythe out of…" He stopped and looked at Soul before he said, "Y'know, I think you're pretty cool. I like you! Tell me your name!"  
"Uh, Soul Eater," Soul looked confused.  
"SOUL! YOU'VE MADE A FRIEND TODAY!" Black Star shouted as he extended his hand, which my new partner shook rather nervously. "I'M THE GREAT BLACK STAR! ANY FRIEND OF MAKA'S IS A FRIEND OF MINE!" He lowered his voice to a whisper to try and ask secretly, "Do you like hentai?"  
"BLACK STAR!" I shouted before giving him another Maka Chop. "NO PERVERTED STUFF IN HERE!"  
"Eesh, setting rules already?" Soul looked away. "You must be a control freak, bookworm…"

After Black Star came back to his senses again, he helped Soul unpack. When he returned, I noticed he had a sad look on his face. I decided to ask the basic question we've been asking each other for the past couple of months: "Found a partner yet?"  
Black Star straightened himself and started laughing. "It seems the world's not ready for me yet!"  
"I thought not…"  
"How come you still haven't found a partner yet, Star-man?" Soul was curious, as well.  
"As I said," the boy repeated, "the world's not ready for me yet! As always, I'll give my introductory speech to see if there's anybody ready for me!"  
"So it was you," Soul deducted, "the guy who's been shoutin' random nonsense for the past couple o' months…"  
"See? You weren't meant to be my weapon yet!" Black Star turned to Soul. "When somebody's ready to _truly_ and _really_understand how great I am, THAT and only THAT will be the day the world starts preparing for my greatness!"

I couldn't help but laugh at that. Black Star was apparently taken in by Shibusen when he was a baby, but he's always been an outcast even there. Being insanely powerful, he's always thought he was superior to everybody else ever since he understood what the word "superior" meant. He entered Shibusen as an official student the same year as I did, but he still hadn't found a weapon partner to turn into a Death Scythe. The problem with Black Star is that one would have to be able to put up with him – a very difficult task – to be his friend, let alone his partner.

"Well, Black Star," I finally said. "It's getting late. You should go and rest."  
"You're right, Maka! I need to be fresh tomorrow morning to give my speech again! Well, seeya! YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"  
"Kid's pretty cool, huh?" Soul smiled after his new friend slammed the door as he left. "Too bad he's probably never gonna find a partner…"  
"Well, let's keep our hopes high for him," I answered with a smile. "'Cause, when he does, he's gonna finally stop givin' his speech."  
"Good point," he muttered. "Oh, well. I'm going to bed."  
"Wait! Aren't you hungry?"  
"Just checking if you were alive, bookworm," Soul laughed at me. "Don't worry. I'll make something for us. You like spaghetti?"  
"I'll eat _anything_ right now…" I said as my stomach grumbled. "Whatever you do, make it good!"  
"As I always do…"

_Hmm… Now that I think about it, I feel glad I have Soul as a partner… He's different from other guys. I hope we go far together…_ My mind was racing and my heart beating as I saw him bring the plates for us to eat at the table.

"Y'know, Maka," Soul started.  
"Yes?"  
"If you're gonna make me a Death Scythe, I hope you make me a relly good one," he smiled as he chewed a bite from his spaghetti.  
"I promise you," I said in the most serious tone I could take with him, "I'm gonna make you into the BEST Death Scythe in history."


	2. Chapter 2 - Mission

My alarm clock was ringing louder than usual, I felt, but that meant yesterday wasn't a dream. I _did_ meet the cute-looking girl who ended up being my meister partner, and we _did_ manage to enter the EAT (Especially Advanced Talent) class at the DWMA… So why did I have the feeling that large ham with the star tattoo on his shoulder just _couldn't_ be real? My clock said it was 6:30 am… Maka probably set it this early so we could get to work. I got out from my bed and started to change my clothes into my dark red skinny jeans and my black-and-yellow jacket, but stopped as soon as I looked at my window. The sun looked as if he was performing his morning etude to get ready for the morning sonata… but that wasn't what I was focusing on.

Right under the window's glass, there was a package that appeared full of magazines. On closer inspection, my fears were confirmed: It _was_ a bunch of magazines tied together neatly, but they were all porn magazines! I wanted to throw them out the window into which they came from, but then I noticed there was a note that read, "To my new friend Soul the Eater hope you enjoy 'em!" and was signed "BLACK" with a star scribbled into the letter A. Of course, Black Star must've brought these for me while I was asleep. I like his guts, but this is a little too much… I hid the magazines under the mattress, promising myself to burn them once I got the chance.

"Soul!" my meister's alto voice called from the other side of my bedroom's door. "You awake?"  
"Yup," I called back. "Just changing my clothes."  
"Okay! Breakfast is ready!"  
"Thanks…"

She had made a couple of omelets and some pieces of toast for us. To be honest, I think she put a little too much pepper to the eggs, but she seemingly enjoyed spicy eggs, so I just munched the whole thing down. After brushing our teeth and making our beds, we headed straight for school.

"You ready, Soru-san?"  
"For what?"  
"Shibusen!" she giggled a bit at my question. "Aren't you excited to go to school?"  
"Meh, school ain't cool…" I muttered coolly, but Maka just blew my brains out with her Chop. I was forced to add, "…but we have to go, whether we like it or not…" to reconcile a bit with her.

We kept talking on our way to school. Maka was excited about the missions we could take now that we were part of the elite 10% of school, and I was wondering when I would be able to start eating evil souls. I went to my locker to retrieve the books we'd be studying today and got a handful of notes from some girls in the school.  
"Love letters?" I wondered. "Why would they be sending me love letters on my _second_ day here? They usually start appearing after two weeks!"  
"You expected these letters?" Maka asked and, when I turned to look at her, I noticed her face was red. "I mean, of course they'd send them to a handsome guy like you…"  
"Well, yeah, more or less…" I smiled at her compliment.  
"WHO'S RECEIVING LOVE LETTERS?!" a pre-teen boy's voice shouted from behind us. "SOUL, MY MAN! WASSUP?!"  
"Hey, Black Star," my partner and I greeted in unison. Then she asked, "Have you given your speech yet?"  
"Nope, but I'm gonna give it in a couple of minutes!" the blue-haired boy answered. "Hey, Soul, did you like my gift?"  
"Heh, I liked it, all right," I half-lied. I _did_ somewhat like the gift, but I had barely taken a look at it before hiding it.  
"What gift?" Maka asked out of innocent curiosity.  
"Nothing!" Black Star and I laughed nervously, and then shared a high-five. Black Star then said, "Well! I'm gonna go give my speech and see if somebody accepts me! Wish me luck! YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" and, with that, he left in a rush.  
"Wait, isn't he gonna be late for class?" I realized.  
"He's always late," Maka remarked. "He feels he stands out if he comes in late."

Half an hour later we were in the classroom waiting for Sid's lesson to start. The teacher was going to start explaining about our missions, Lord Death's list and all that jazz that day so we could accept missions that very afternoon. As Sid was passing attendance, he stopped at Black Star's name and looked around. He then commented something about the kid being always late and kept passing attendance. We were learning about how we shouldn't take human souls because they would turn us into Kishin Eggs when Black Star entered the classroom, obviously disappointed. He sat next to me and mumbled something about a Shinigami Chop.

"Hey, Star-man," I greeted. "How'd everything go?"  
"Well, it was going just fine until Shinigami-sama appeared and told me to get down from my stage," he smiled, "and I accidentally broke the column I was standing on. He gave me his super-hard Chop and sent me back to class."  
"Shh!" Maka looked at us angrily. "Will you pay attention?"  
"AH, PIPE DOWN, MAKA! YOU SHOULD ALL BE PAYING ATTENTION TO ME!" the kid shouted as he stood up on his table and made a heroic pose.  
"Black Star, I think she's gonna—" I started, but my meister interrupted me.  
"Maka… CHOP!" she jumped higher than I thought she could – showing me a pretty view in the process – and hit Black Star square in the head. When she landed beside me, she noticed my nose had become a fountain—even though I had tried to keep my cool—and turned red both in embarrassment and in rage. "SOUL! NOT YOU TOO! MAKA CHOP!"

I recovered consciousness five minutes later, and class had just ended. I picked my stuff up and ran out of the classroom to try and catch up with Maka. Once I did, she looked at me with her face still red.  
"Sorry about that…" I greeted.  
"Well, I didn't exactly try and cover that side…" she smirked at me. "How come your nose was bleeding so… thoroughly?"  
"It happens to cool guys like me…" I answered calmly. "So… where ya goin'?"  
"' Where are WE going?' you mean," Maka smiled at me.  
"Sure, why not?" I chuckled. "Where are _we_ going, Maka?"  
"On a mission! We're going on our very first mission!"


	3. Chapter 3 - Resonance

Soul and Maka went to my room to be briefed into their mission. After she knocked on the door, I authorized their entrance.

"Why, hello Maka-chan! Wassup, Soul-Cool?" I greeted happily.  
"Shinigami-sama," Maka bowed as her greeting.  
"Yo, Lord Death," Soul nodded at me with a solemn grin.  
"You kids ready for your very-berry first mission?"  
Soul's mouth started to drool before he said, "Who's the target?"  
I couldn't help but give a little chuckle to his question. "Ho-kay, then~! Your target is gonna be a funny-looking little guy called… The Mad Hatter~!"  
"Mad Hatter? How dangerous is he?" Maka asked.  
"Not enough for you kids, that's for sure!" I smiled under my mask. "Though be careful. He likes to throw boiling tea at his victims… or was it acid?"  
"'Mad Hatter', huh?" Soul said in a serious tone. "Should we look out for anything else?"  
"Reports say the underside of his hat contains a hypnotic view screen…" I clapped in dismissal. "Good luck, you two!"

I turned to keep an eye on them through my mirror, and saw that Soul had gone to look for his motorcycle. Maka had pulled out a map to check where their mission would take place just as her weapon partner arrived to pick her up. Soul asked the girl to hold on tightly, and she wrapped her arms around his waist. Both with red faces and wary smiles, they embarked on their first mission.

"Oi, Maka," Soul started, "do you think we can beat him good?"  
"Well, I've never done this before…" Maka answered nervously. "And they say Shinigami-sama's watching us right now…"  
"Look, we're here," the weapon boy said. "Wonder-Town Park… Is it here that his killings have occurred?"  
"Mm-hmm, and all of them on blonde girls with Alice-related names," the meister girl replied with a fully memorized anecdote. "You ready?"  
"Let's eat!" Soul shouted as he transformed into his scythe form.

Maka held the scythe with both hands and ran into the abandoned amusement park with her eyes carefully scanning her surroundings. She leapt on top of the carrousel with a couple of complicated moves to be able to get a better view when she heard maniacal laughter echoing through the place.

"What is it, Maka?" Soul's voice echoed from the scythe in the sandy-haired girl's hands.  
"I'm feeling chills…" the pigtailed meister answered nervously. "D'you think we're being followed?"  
"He's obviously waiting for us, Maka," the scythe remarked impatiently. "Get ready."

Maka nodded and jumped across one rooftop to the next with her scythe's help. They passed an old roller coaster that was dangling at the tip of the tallest rise, an old Tower of Terror that was stuck at the very top of the central pole, and a dark shooting gallery that was echoing an ancient "you win" tune. They carefully passed through a dodgem rink and noticed there was someone talking to himself in the Spinning Cups ride. The man was very tall, very thin, and wore a very long purple coat. His wild orange hair was partially covered by a large top hat that had the number 10/6 attached to the left part of the hat, and his extremely pale skin was only visible through his neck. He looked as if he were muttering a riddle to himself:  
"Why is a raven like a writing desk?"  
Maka seemed to know the answer to that: "Because Poe wrote on both!"  
The Mad Hatter turned around with his eyes wide open in surprise. "Why do you say that? To what are you answering?"  
"He's our target! I'm hungry!" Soul reminded Maka of their mission, and the girl nodded.  
"Jervis Hightopp! For murdering the Time, we're here to take your soul!" the girl announced.  
"Who murdered Time? He's only bowed down to me!" the Mad Hatter replied with a shy smile. "Queen of Evil, I'll have to take your soul!"  
"Not a chance! Get ready, Soul!" Maka shouted as they both prepared for battle.

They both gave their battle yells as they approached each other. Over here, Maka's father was commenting about how she looked so much like her mother, which made me shut him up with a Shinigami Chop. Before I could turn back to check on the pair, my son appeared.

"Hullo, Father," Kid said. "Whom are we watching tonight?"  
"Soul Eater and Maka Albarn, Kiddo~!" I greeted back. "Did you finally choose your weapon partner yet?"  
"I think I've finally decided, Father," my son smiled symmetrically. "The only problem I have is I'll have to capture them and set them right before starting to train with them…"  
"Oh, so you mean the Thompson Sisters?" I analyzed. "Yes, they'll prove to be a bit troublesome—"

A scream interrupted our chat, followed by a "TEA TIME!" from the Mad Hatter. Maka, barely holding Soul, had landed on one of the Spinning Cups and the Hatter activated the machine at maximum intensity, which made the girl lose her grip on her scythe and sent it flying. The Mad Hatter landed on the same cup Maka was trapped in and removed his hat.

"Doesn't the Mad Hatter hypnotize people with his hat?" Kid asked.  
"Yes, he does," Spirit Death-Scythe answered before I could. "I hope Maka will be able to resist—oh, never mind…"

Soul had stood up and entered the ride himself. He had transformed himself partially into his weapon form; in this case, his right arm turned into the scythe's blade as he entered the vortex the machine had turned into. He could barely run to where the Hatter and Maka were, but he somehow did and kicked his target's bottom, which made the latter fall forward. He grabbed his meister's hand and tried to exit the ride with her, except they plummeted to a roller coaster car.

"Oohh… What happened?" Maka said as she apparently recovered consciousness.  
"It's okay, Maka," Soul answered. "Take my hand so we can kick this guy's ass."  
As Maka took Soul's hand and the latter transformed again, their opponent landed on the foremost car and shouted, "How can you escape tea time?! Time dumped me at 6:00!"  
"He really is crazy," Soul muttered. "We'd better get rid o' him before he gets worse…"  
"Then let's go—WHOA!" Maka would've fallen off the roller coaster had she not stabbed Soul's blade into the car, which was rushing through the tracks at immeasurable speeds.

Kid and Spirit were munching on popcorn when they saw Maka climb the coaster car to return to battle. The Death Scythe was rooting for her daughter loudly, which made Kid slap him on both cheeks so he could quiet down. Then Kid turned to me.

"If this is their first mission," he asked, "then why did they choose such a difficult target?"  
"Maka likes to demonstrate she's strong," I explained. "But, unlike Black Star, she also knows she can't do everything."  
"Black Star? Who's that?" my son asked.  
"Oh, _you'll_ see~!" I laughed and turned back to the mirror as soon as I heard Soul call his partner's name.

Maka was falling from the Tower of Terror after trying to attack the Mad Hatter once again, and Soul was falling after her to try and cushion her fall. Eventually he did, holding her tightly as they both crashed into the shooting gallery. Maka blushed as she stood up and checked if her friend was all right or not, but Soul shoved her to the side as boiling-hot tea cascaded over the spot she was just standing in, and a laughing Hatter fell between them.

"What's the matter?" he asked as his smile faded. "Can't take on someone as mad as a hatter?"  
Maka couldn't hold it in anymore. "HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO FIGHT IF YOU KEEP MOVING?!"  
"Maka…" Soul warned.  
"I'M GONNA TAKE YOU ON THE DODGEM RINK! HOW'S THAT?!" Maka challenged. "SOUL, GET READY!"  
"Heh, cool," Soul showed his shark teeth in a drooling smile. "Let's go, then…"

As Maka held her scythe partner with both hands, both challengers ran toward the rink. The girl stood on top of one of the bumper cars while the Mad Hatter used one bumper car per foot. Maka's eyes focused on her enemy, and her grip on Soul tightened. The Mad Hatter kicked one of his bumper cars into Maka's, but the girl jumped into another bumper car, which glided into the Mad Hatter's. Caught by surprise, the enemy fell on his back before Maka hit him twice with her scythe, but then he kicked her hand and made her bumper car swerve into another one, causing the young meister to fall.

"Maka! You all right?" the scythe's voice sounded deeply worried over his partner.  
"Nngh… We can't go on like this…" Maka groaned as she stood up.  
"You do realize we have an alternative for this?" Soul asked as they dodged a couple of attacks from their target. "You ready?"  
"Okay!" Maka's soul wavelength started to amplify. Then it started to resonate with Soul's. "LET'S GO, SOUL RESONANCE!"

As a catchy song – only describable as "Psychedelic Souljam" – started playing from nowhere, Kid's eyes widened and Spirit started yelling in favor of her daughter. Maka and Soul's power amplified far more than it normally would for beginners like them, though… Anyways, the Mad Hatter also noticed the change in the power balance, as his smile turned itself upside-down.

"WITCH HUNTER!" Soul and Maka's voices echoed as the scythe's shape evolved and its color changed into a shining shade of white. Maka looked much more determined than usual, and her movements started to flow gracefully as she attacked the Mad Hatter. Eventually, the scythe's blade went through its target, destroying the Mad Hatter's body and releasing its soul. Soul transformed back into his normal form, and then turned back into the cool boy Maka partnered with. Drooling like a baby expecting his meal, Soul grabbed the Kishin Egg and admired it for a second. Maka asked Soul, "Aren't weapons supposed to absorb those evil souls?"  
"Heh, of course!" Soul smiled and then he opened his mouth to an unnatural degree before devouring the Kishin Egg.

So _that's_ why he's called Soul Eater…

"Let's see here… 42-42-564…" Maka muttered as she scribbled the numbers into a glass window. "Hello? Shinigami-sama?"  
"Hello-hello-hello, Maka-chan!" I greeted and waved at the pair. "Congratulations on getting your first soul!"  
"Thanks, Lord Death!" Soul smiled at me. "Just watch, I'll be the coolest Death Scythe in history!"  
"AS LONG AS YOU DON'T LAY A FINGER ON MY MAKA!" Spirit started shouting in front of me.  
"Why would I try to touch a flat-chested chick like her? It's not cool, you know," Soul defied before Maka took her book from nowhere and chopped Soul's head with it.  
"Shinigami-sama," Maka turned to me, "would you be so kind and DO THE SAME TO MY FATHER?!"  
"Gladly," I replied truthfully before giving Death Scythe another Shinigami Chop. "Now, Maka-chan, we're expecting you to return to Shibusen and recover from your first victory~!"  
"Thanks, Lord Death!" Soul answered as Maka bowed. "See ya later!"

To think that they can already use the Witch Hunter… They actually have chances of turning Soul into a Death Scythe!


	4. Chapter 4 - Camellia

It's been almost a month now since we collected our first soul, but I can still remember it as if it had just been yesterday… I still remember how Soul defended me against the Mad Hatter and we then resonated our souls together into victory. Nowadays, though, we've taken on relatively easier missions to try and keep a low profile, especially after Soul opened his locker last week to find it completely full with fan mails. Last night we had taken on some guy with vibrating gloves and finished him before he could get his hands on either of us, but Soul kept him away from me, as if I _wanted_ to let him grab me. This morning, after waking up, Soul made blueberry pancakes for the both of us and commented about that soul tasting all weird.

"I mean," he said, "I could feel that thing _vibrating_ its way down my throat!"  
"But you still liked it?" I asked.  
"Of course! Souls are yummy!" my weapon partner emphasized the last word, as if the thought of a soul's taste made him hungry.  
"Well! I think we're ready for another day of school, aren't you?" I stretched before standing up.  
"Sure thing, Maka," Soul showed me his shark teeth in a drooling smile. "Let's also hope Black Star finds a weapon partner today…"

Once we got to Shibusen, we noticed a large crowd assembled in front of the main doors. It meant either Black Star was giving his morning speech earlier than usual, or a new class of both weapons and meisters was being introduced to the school. A dozen or so more steps proved the former option correct, as the blue-haired boy's pre-puberty voice echoed in the halls:  
"…and you must ALWAYS refer to me as the Great Black Star! This is my reign, but all of you just don't know how great I am…!"  
"He just can't help showing off, can he?" Soul laughed. "Starry Boy's gonna fall off that cliff his ego's holding him on eventually…"  
"And yet," another boy's voice replied from behind us, "nobody's _ever_ gonna take him as seriously as you, Soul."  
"It's not that I take him seriously, Ox," Soul smiled at the near-bald boy behind us. "You just can't understand this kinda thing…"  
"Maka," Ox Ford turned to me, "you've known him for most of your lives. What's _your_ opinion?"

I was about to answer that Black Star could be a really nice guy once one got to _really_ meet him when the school bells rang their usual "KILL-KON-KAN-KONNNNG", which meant class was about to start. We started with P.E. on Wednesdays, so Soul and I separated to change into our sports clothing. While I was in the girls' changing room, I overheard Kim Diehl mention Black Star to her friend Jackie O'Lantern, but I dismissed the gossip talk because it was probably yet another set of insults directed at the last surviving member of the Star Clan. When I got out in my sports clothes, I noticed the blue-haired boy wasn't there, which was odd because that was his favorite class. Soul appeared behind me and greeted me:

"Welcome back to the crude reality," he chuckled. "Say, where's the Star-man?"  
"I dunno," I shrugged. "He's never late for this class…"  
The P.E. teacher, Nygus, was walking behind Soul when I mentioned that and said, "Yeah, it seems Black Star's finally found a partner…"  
"WHAT?!" Soul and I shouted in surprise. Soul started laughing in amusement, but I couldn't close my mouth because I was flabbergasted. I could only mutter "Black Star… partner…?" as if it were a Calculus problem being presented on a three-year-old.  
"We gotta throw a party to get to know Starry Boy's partner!" Soul shouted, and everyone present in the class started talking in approval and expectation. "Waddaya say, Death City Plaza at nine o'clock on Friday?"

I spent most of the afternoon wondering what Black Star's partner would look like, and what kind of person they were. Soul constantly interrupted me by recommending some missions on Shinigami-sama's list, but every time I said that we couldn't be worrying about missions if the world was gonna end. It looked as if everyone but me thought Black Star desperately needed a partner to keep him under control, but I knew better; Black Star's heritage and his attitude often kept people away from him, unless they didn't know (probably like his unknowing partner) or didn't care (like Soul, Kilik, maybe Ox, and me).

Once school was out, I told Soul I'd be in our apartment if he needed anything, and headed straight there. Before I could enter our place, though, I bumped into a tall busty black-haired girl.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" she apologized, bowing lowly. "I didn't see you there!"  
"It's not your fault," I replied with a smile. "I was very distracted…"  
"Really? Could I help you with that?" the girl looked willing to do me a favor, so I accepted.  
"I have a friend…" I started.  
"Is it an _actual_ friend, or just you?" she looked curiously at me.  
"No, it's an old friend of mine…" I cleared up. "You see, he's met someone…"  
"Do you approve of him 'meeting someone'?" she interrupted, but then she apologized. "Sorry… I thought it was _that_ kinda thing…" she said nervously as I frowned at her.  
"It's not your fault… maybe it's just me being overly cautious over him…" I looked away from the girl's dark blue eyes. "Thanks, uh…"  
"Tsubaki," Tsubaki said. "A real pleasure to meet you…"  
"Maka," I smiled as I shook her hand. "I bet you're new around here, aren't you?"  
"Mm-hmm! And I already got a partner!" Tsubaki (which I remembered means "Camellia" in Japanese) started clapping and bouncing in excitement. "Sure, he's a little self-absorbed, but I think he's a really gentle guy on the inside…"  
"Did you say self-absorbed?" I started having a bad feeling about who her partner was…  
"He keeps talking about—" Tsubaki started to say, but Soul interrupted her:  
"Hey, Maka. Hello, what's your name?" he turned to the black-haired girl in front of me.  
"Tsubaki Nakatsukasa…" she smiled at him.  
"You hungry, Tsubaki?" I immediately asked before she could talk any more. "Soul here makes a delicious homemade pizza!"  
"Oh, no!" the new girl looked as if she didn't want to cause any trouble. "I'm good, thanks!"  
"Ah, come on," I insisted, "I really wanna get to know you better!"

In the end, Tsubaki had no option but to accede and come in. She was a really nice girl; she always wanted to please those around her—in this case, Soul and me—by being as helpful as possible and trying to act as a maid. To be honest, I didn't like her usefulness because it made me feel like I didn't have anything to do. After having dinner and sharing a very friendly chat, someone rammed the door.

"MAKA! YOU IN THERE?!" Black Star's voice hollered from the other side.  
"Yes, Black Star, I'm here," I answered with an exasperated sigh. "Please don't knock the door in!"  
"Oh, no…" Tsubaki stood up with a worried look. "I must go…"  
"Why?" Soul Eater didn't fully understand the grasp of the situation, but he would in ten more seconds, when Black Star opened the door and entered the apartment. "Oh, hey, Star-man!"  
"Hey, Soul-Cool!" the blue-haired boy shared a high-five with the white-haired one. Then he turned to the girl standing beside me and said, "Tsubaki? I didn't know you knew Soul and Maka!"  
"I just did, Black Star," she smiled and rushed to his side with a slight blush on her face. "Shall we get going, then?"  
"But I just got here!" Black Star whined. "Let's stay a little longer!"

Tsubaki wasn't talking much around her meister; instead, she was simply eyeing him with an awed expression, as if she liked the potently egocentric boy that was laughing beside her. Soul and I were talking normally with them, even when Black Star started trying to shuffle-dance on the coffee table, which made me give him a Maka Chop before he could break it again. When the grandfather clock in the kitchen chimed eleven times, my old friend Black Star stretched his arms and yawned loudly.

"Are you tired, Black Star?" Tsubaki asked. "I think we should go to bed…"  
"YOU'RE RIGHT!" her new partner shouted before standing up. "Well, Maka and Soul, we're going to our place! See ya! YAHOOOOOOOOOOO !

The spiky-haired boy rushed outside our front door, followed by the busty black-haired girl, who was running after him. Black Star has a partner… We've so far collected 27 souls… The world's improving at a faster pace than I expected…


	5. Chapter 5 - Holding

I remember the party for the Star-Man's new partner lasting only until midnight because she didn't want everyone to feel drowsy because of her, even when Maka insisted to continue the party because it was Black Star's party as well. Tsubaki blushed a little when her meister partner got drunk (I still don't know how the heck he did it, though) and took off his shirt and started trying to shuffle-dance in the middle of Death City Plaza—even if he wasn't half bad... But that was last week.

Black Star and Tsubaki still haven't taken on any missions yet, at the girl's request for more time to practice; the boy was considerate enough to actually listen to her for once. In the meantime, Maka and I were taking a multiple-target mission, which was usually restricted to two-star teams, but we already reached that rank after we collected 50 souls. This mission was against the evil Dragon Brothers, who were rivals to my keyboard skills when put together, but I took them one-on-two and still beat them before we took their souls. So now we have 52 souls, but we're still aiming for all the 99-plus-1-witch souls!

"Soul! Time for school!" Maka called this morning, and I groaned a weak hello. "Come on! Shinigami-sama said we could have another multi-target mission today if we hurried!"  
"Fine, I'm going..." I muttered as I changed and lumped my way to the breakfast table.  
"What's gotten you so sluggish this morning?" my meister asked. "Was it last night's movie marathon?"  
"Felt like a week-long marathon to _me_," I commented with a loud yawn. Last night had the whole Harry Potter movie-marathon and Maka wanted to see the _whole_ thing because she loved the books; the marathon lasted 'till two in the morning.  
"Well, whatever," Maka ignored my comment. "We gotta get a move on now! I heard Black Star wanted to take our mission!"  
"And you think Lord Death will let 'im?" I asked back. "Everyone always starts with a single-target mission, Maka-Maka..."  
Maka giggled to my little nickname for her. "Okay, then. But I still think Black Star's gonna try and persuade Shinigami-sama into this…"  
"Who cares? Let's just go!" I laughed loudly. "I'm starving for souls!"

The Star-Man and his partner were late for class that day. Again, and for the same reason as always, too. Maka was eyeballing the spiky-haired boy in a very peculiar way during the class, to the point that Sid had to call her attention and she turned red in embarrassment. After class ended, my partner took Black Star away, and I was left with Tsubaki, who was wondering why her partner had gone with her.  
"Heck, if I knew…" I shrugged. "We'll just wait for 'em here, okay?"  
"'Kay," the well-endowed girl answered. After ten beats of silence, she said, "Well, Soul. How's it going with the soul collection?"  
"Going well, thanks," I replied with a small grin. "You?"  
"Well, Black Star and I became partners just last week…" Tsubaki rolled her eyes contemplatively.  
"Good point… Well, I hope you also make a good Death… Weapon," I realized we were weapons, but neither of us knew what the other's weapon form looked like.  
The black-haired girl in front of me seemed to notice it, as well, because she said, "I hear you're a scythe… am I right?"  
"Absolutely, Tsubaki," I nodded. "But I don't think I know _your_ weapon form…"  
"Oh," Tsubaki took a modest expression that made her look cuter than she already was, "I'm just a Demon Arm…"  
"C'mon! You know _my_ form!" I insisted. "A Demon Arm's just too general!"  
"Fine, I'll tell you all of my forms," she turned red at my pressure and then told me all of her forms: "I'm a chain-scythe, a giant shuriken, a ninja blade and… a smoke bomb."  
"A smoke—WHOO-HAHAHAHAHA!" I couldn't help but laugh at her mini arsenal of forms, all fit for a ninja like Black Star. Then, when I noticed her face had turned a bashful shade of red, I added, "Not bad, I gotta admit… Heck, you've got a handful running through your veins!"  
"HEY!" Tsubaki's partner's voice echoed from the end of the hall.  
"Black Star?" the weapon girl turned worried to where the voice seemed to come from and ran in that direction.

Then I realized he was with Maka, so whatever happened must've happened to her as well, so I ran behind Tsubaki to where the "BIG" kid's voice came from—enjoying a nice view of bouncing volleyballs in the process and having my nose drip a little, too. But the _real _surprise came when we turned the corner and Tsubaki screamed:  
"Black Star?!"  
"Maka!"  
"I swear it's not what it looks like!" Black Star shouted with his face the same color of my eyes.  
"Well, it sure looks like the two of you are cuddling to _me_," I remarked at the same time as Maka let go of the Star-Man.  
"I'm sorry," she said. "It was my fault…"  
"…let's just go," Black Star told Tsubaki as the black-haired girl's eyes filled with tears and her cheeks flushed.

Maka and I were left alone in the room as the pair left, but Maka's cheeks were still burning. The room's tension felt like a ballad combined with reggae music: it was _that_ bad. I told the pig-tailed girl to go back home with me so we could talk this out and, for the first time ever, she ran away from me with something that sounded like a sob. Even though I was actually surprised to find Maka and Black Star holding each other while Tsubaki looked jealous, I didn't really mind because my partner had already told me she was good friends with the large ham since they were little.

…so why did I feel like I wanted to slice my new best friend in half for hugging my partner?


	6. Chapter 6 - Mauve

"Sorry…"  
"It doesn't matter."  
"I mean it!"  
"I know you do, Maka."  
"But, Black Star…" but he wasn't listening to me anymore. The spiky-haired meister just sat there, looking into blank space. I had to insist to see if he could just understand. "I swear I didn't quite mean it as you thought!"  
"Listen, Maka," Black Star looked at me with the most austere expression I ever thought imaginable from him, "I'm OK with the fact that you have a partner, and that our… thing… is gonna become much more… grown-up-ish…"  
"You mean 'mature', Black Star," I corrected. "And I'm sorry about glomping you like that—"  
"Doesn't matter," he looked away again. "But you know we can keep being best friends, right?"  
"Of course," I smiled. "And you're getting along well with Soul, aren't you?"  
"Someone called me?" my partner jump-scared me before he and Black Star shared a high-five. "Maka, can we talk?"  
"Well… if Black Star doesn't mind, of course…" I looked to my side to acknowledge my oldest friend, but he wasn't there anymore, so I looked back at Soul. "Fine… what is it about?"  
"Are you and Black Star… you know…" he made a gesture with his hands that suggested something that I'd _never_ try, not even on whatever Soul smokes at night.  
"SOUL, YOU IDIOT! MAKA CHOP!"  
"Oww…" Soul was rubbing his head to try and ease the pain. "Okay, okay. So you're too tight for the Star-man—OW!"  
"What do you really want, Soul?" I asked as I put my book away. "If this is about—"  
"That's exactly what I was about to ask," Soul flinched as my hand warned him that my book was nearby. "What was that about?"  
"I'll tell you later," I said before running to Shinigami-sama's room, remembering about our mission.

Apparently, Black Star and his partner Tsubaki were trying to get that mission against the Legion XIII for a couple of days now, but Shinigami-sama had told them to go with anything easier, but all other missions were taken, so they'd have to wait until the mission board was refilled to be able to get another mission. I managed to call dibs on that mission to be able to have something to keep my mind off Soul and Black Star tonight. Soul tried to bring the subject up a bunch of times during the rest of the day, and I always managed to dodge his questioning gaze. But night came and the moon started laughing at us. Soul and I were eating dinner before I looked at the clock that hung on the wall.

"Soul," I finally said, "it's time to go…"  
"Sure, Maka," he stood up and cleaned both his and my dishes. "On the way, can we talk?"  
"I guess I have no other choice," I concluded. Once we were on our way to Black City, Soul brought the subject up:  
"What _is_ going on with you?"  
"Whaddaya mean?"  
"I mean, between you and Black Star," he looked at me for a second, and I noticed a spark of something that I didn't believe possible with him: jealousy. "What happened this afternoon scared both Tsubaki and me—"  
"How'd she take it?" I interrupted.  
"She's a bit shaken up… but I think she got jealous!" he chuckled to hide his feelings. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say she liked him."  
"Problem is," I clarified, "you _don't_ know any better. So, as far as we care, she likes him." As soon as I said that, we both realized it was as ridiculous as it sounded and laughed to tears. The night sky was turning mauve, and the moon started howling in praise for us.  
"Hey, Maka," Soul called.  
"Yes, Soul?"  
"Ya think you and I could maybe…"  
"Go out?! Are you insane?!" My heart spoke first, and then my mind tried to cover it up.  
"I wasn't gonna say that," Soul parked the motorcycle and looked at me. "I was about to ask you if we can try the Soul Resonance again today…"  
"Oh," I felt my cheeks burn in embarrassment. Of course, how could I have thought Soul Eater was going to ask _me_, of all girls, out? "Well, last time didn't come out as bad as usual…"  
"Exactly. Practice makes perfect!" Soul grabbed my hand and transformed into his scythe form. "Now, let's go! The fragrant souls are calling!"

Legion XIII was a group of twelve—yes, TWELVE—serial killers that kept collecting human souls because they thought they had lost theirs. First we took on Arlene, a kunoichi that used kunais and was as fast as I could only try and catch up with, but somebody had eaten a banana and left the peel on the ground. I slipped and made a wild swing to try to recover my balance, slicing Arlene in half in the process. After that was Lumiara, a weird person—I never found out whether it was a guy or a girl—that, like me and my mother before me, wielded a scythe; in this case, the scythe was pink and a bit more cumbersome in its owner's hands than Soul was in mine. We had the edge in speed and agility, but Lumiara was more experienced with the scythe; in the end Lumiara had me pinned to the ground and giving a monologue about how the world was going to be ruled under him… or her… before Soul stabbed it from behind.

After Lumiara came Dulor, an attractive guy that challenged us to a game of poker in which the loser would die… which meant Soul had to stay behind under my orders, of course, to avoid losing in a game of smarts. I won five games in a row and Soul ate his soul. Right beside the scene there was a guy playing a sitar that said something that sounded like "I kept telling them they picked the wrong guy for this" and tried to attack us. I said he tried because he was a complete wimp and was almost as unmotivated to kill us as Soul is about homework. Immediately after that appeared a guy named Lea that was throwing giant shurikens at us. Right after we jumped and reached him, Soul went through him and ate his soul.

Long story short, Isa had blue hair and a giant sword. We beat him. Ienzo was a hot boy with emo hair and a book with which he battered us. I gave him a Maka Chop at the same time as Soul stabbed him from behind. We beat him. Aeleus was a giant with an even bigger axe. We cut off his limbs and then finished him off. Even was a scientist that kept trying to freeze us with a cryo-gun attached to his shield. We beat him. Dilan was a guy with black dreadlocks and six lances. We broke his lances and beat him. Braig looked like a pirate with his long hair, scar on his left cheek, and eye-patch, and he kept trying to shoot us with his semi-automatic guns. We managed to dodge his magazines dry before we sliced him in half. Last, but definitely not least, came Ansem, who used _actual_ light sabers… I have to admit, I couldn't take my eyes off him as we fought. To be precise, I was eating him with my eyes, but that didn't make the target less dangerous.

"Maka! We've been fighting this asshole for twenty minutes!" Soul shouted impatiently.  
"Fine," I said. "What a waste… LET'S GO, SOUL RESONANCE!"

Our soul wavelengths synchronized to our Psychedelic Souljam as we tried to do the Witch Hunter at Ansem, but we ended breaking only the trash can behind us. Thank goodness for the element of surprise. Soul caught him off-guard as Ansem was laughing at the sight of me on the ground and cut his torso.

"So, this'd make… 64 souls!" he opened his mouth and gulped the soul down. "Hey, Maka…"  
"What?"  
Soul helped me up and looked into my eyes for a minute. Then he said, "Nice job."  
"You were an important part of the mission, Soul…"  
"Let's go home."  
"Okay."

Soul took a shower immediately after we returned to our apartment. He crossed the living room wearing only a towel and with his white hair still dripping wet. I looked at him for a second as he passed and turned back to my book when he was turning to look at me.

"Hey, Soul," I called.  
"Yeah, Maka?"  
"Were _you_ jealous when you saw me hugging Black Star?"  
I didn't look up so he didn't think I was staring at him, so the only way I knew he was meditating the answer was because an uncomfortable silence fell on us like an anvil. Eventually he said, "You're my partner… but he's your friend. I'm not getting in the way of that."  
"_Were_ you jealous?" I changed the question.  
"I… I was wondering why the Star-man had shouted 'Hey!' for…" he stammered.  
"I was clearing things up between him and me," I explained. "We've grown a lot since the first time we met, you know."  
"Hm?"  
"The moment we turned into partners, Soul," I looked at him and noticed his face was red, "Black Star understood he and I were entering into a broader world. Our friendship evolved when you came along, Soul. It wasn't just gonna be 'the Great Black Star and Maka' against the world—"  
Soul didn't let me finish. He just adjusted his towel, hugged me tightly, and said, "I got scared, that's all. I thought I'd… lose you."  
"Aww, Soul!" I couldn't help but follow the beat of the moment and kissed him in the cheek…

The next morning, Black Star was giving off his usual morning speech, with only Tsubaki listening to it. Actually, it looked more as if she was just eyeing him. Maybe she _did_ like him? When we sat in our classroom, we saw Sid talking to a guy we didn't know. The weird part wasn't that Sid was ignoring the class to talk to that other man, but the fact that the stranger had a screw in his head. After Sid and the guy with the screw in his head finished talking, the latter lit up a cigarette and left the room with the stench cigarette smoke always leaves.

"Well, kids!" Sid said as he turned to the class. "Today we're gonna talk about the five ways one can defy gravity without—"  
"WITHOUT BEING BLACK STAR?! THAT I'D LIKE TO HEAR!" Black Star entered the classroom through the window.  
"Hello, Maka," Tsubaki greeted as she sat down beside me. "Fancy night, huh?"  
"Wh-what?" I stuttered in response. "I don't know—"  
"THE NIGHT WAS AWESOME, STUPID! THE MOON WAS HOWLING!" Black Star shouted at me. "NOW PIPE DOWN! I WANNA HEAR THIS!"


	7. Chapter 7 - Teamwork 1

Maka and I were already getting tired of waiting for the Star-man and his partner to arrive at DWMA to get on with our mission when we heard his signature "YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"  
"Finally," Maka muttered under her breath as she put her book away and looked at the end of the hall, from which Black Star's voice had come from. "Let's see if he can control himself long enough for us to ask nicely for our mission…"  
"Don't worry, Maka," I answered. "You can give him your Chop and knock his brains out…"  
"Yeah, but I prefer not to knock the little brains he has left—"  
"IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT ME, YOU BETTER NOT BE SAYIN' 'LITTLE'!" Black Star shouted in both of our ears. Then he turned around and called back to where he had appeared from, "TSUBAKI! C'MON, ARE YA GONNA MAKE US WAIT ALL DAY?!"  
"S-sorry, Black Star…" Tsubaki finally caught up with us and had to lean on Maka to catch her breath. Black Star looked at his partner—or, more specifically, her cleavage—and then at me and mouthed "Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaammn…" with gleaming eyes. I rolled my eyes with half a smile; sure, Tsubaki was hot as hell, but she matches better with the Star-man, I'm sure of it. Anyways, Maka glared at the Star-man until his partner managed to control her breathing and then all four of us walked to Lord Death's room.

As we entered, a pale boy in a black suit crossed us. His hair was black and, when Black Star and I turned to look back at him, we noticed it had three white lines across exactly half his head and that his eyes were golden. Black Star looked as if he wanted to land a punch or five on the kid, but the other guy just shrugged and walked out the room; the blue-haired hothead beside me was about to give chase before my meister grabbed him by the back of his shirt and almost dragged him the last few yards to Lord Death's giant mirror. Maka and Tsubaki both bowed to the big guy, the Star-man crossed his arms and acted all "big" and stuff, and I just put my hands in my jacket's pocket and said, "Yo."  
"Hey y'all~! Wassup kiddies and dudes and dudettes and whatnot~?" he smiled… or I think he did, 'cause I still can't see his face…  
"Shinigami-sama," the blonde girl that I had partnered with put on her business-face to address Lord Death, "we're here to take on that mission posted on the bulletin board that said required two teams."  
"And two teams you are! But lemme check something first…" his circular eyes narrowed a bit to analyze us. "Soul-kun and Maka-chan…" he turned to us, "your soul count so far is at 76 souls, good job!"  
Maka turned red and said "Thank you" in a proud but squeaky voice.  
Then Death turned to Black Star and Tsubaki and said, "Black Star-kun, Tsubaki-chan… your soul count so far is… zero."  
Tsubaki's face went as white as my hair, but the blue-haired kid next to her started laughing like an idiot, which got him a pretty well-deserved Reaper Chop to his head… Maka was chuckling at the sight of Black Star on the floor.  
"Well, then…" the Reaper continued as if nothing had happened. "Soul and Maka, will you pretty please try to help Black Star and Tsubaki get at least one soul?"  
"We'll do our best, Death," I answered smiling. Of course, no matter how hard we'd try, the Star-man and his busty weapon partner are_never_ gonna get a soul.  
The Big Grimmer sighed and said, "Oh, well… guess that's that. Get going, then~! I wanna see some friendly teamy teamwork here, kay~?"  
"ALL RIGHT! DID YA HEAR, TSUBAKI?! WE'RE GONNA SHOW LITTLE MAKA AND SOUL WHAT WE'RE MADE OF!" Black Star recovered consciousness and was already jumping around.  
"Y-yes, Black Star… but can't we try and look into our opponents before fighting them?" Tsubaki looked at her meister partner nervously. "I mean, if this mission requires two teams, they'd have to be pretty hard…"  
"REMEMBER THAT I JUST AGREED TO COME WITH THEM BECAUSE THEY COULDN'T HANDLE MY EPICNESS!" Black Star was starting to get on Maka's, Lord Death's, and my nerves, but Maka's hand was the fastest to chop him unconscious. I couldn't help but laugh at Tsubaki getting all flustered over his unconscious body and trying to carry him until Maka glared at me and told me to help her.

According to Maka, our enemies were a small group of good guys turned evil called the Elements. Black Star had asked if they were strong enough to be faced by him, and I had answered sarcastically that they weren't called the Elements because they controlled the elements; Maka laughed at that, and Tsubaki just smiled and tried to explain the concept to the Star-man. After we got out of school, Black Star and Tsubaki went to their place, and Maka and I went to ours. As I prepared to take a shower, I noticed Maka had taken out a notebook and was scribbling something into it, but I didn't give it much thought: our mission awaited us, and I needed a shower.

Three hours later we had showered, eaten dinner, and met up at the city's exit. Black Star had miraculously changed his usual black-and-white outfit into a black-and-blue hoodie and dark gray jeans, and his partner changed to match him; Maka and I went as we usually did, and were chuckling at the Star team's look—they looked like a gaming team or something like that. We left to reach our mission.

"THESE GUYS ARE BORING ME! ARE WE THERE YET?!" Black Star shouted for the umpteenth time as rain started pouring down on us. "GAH! WHAT THE HELL?! SINCE WHEN WAS IT RAINING?!"  
"Umm… Black Star? I don't think the sky was cloudy until we got here…" Tsubaki looked around nervously. "I recommend we get ready for battle…"  
"I concur, Tsubaki-chan," Maka was focusing on everything around us, and then she extended her hand at me. "Let's go, Soul."  
"Roger," I replied and transformed into a scythe.  
"Heh, I don't hear anyone—hm?" Black Star interrupted himself and looked at something that was at our left. "Someone's coming… Tsubaki, go into Shuriken Mode."  
"Right," the black-haired girl's shape changed into a giant star-shaped shuriken that the Star-man held with his right hand.

A lone young woman was approaching us in the rain with a pink umbrella in her right hand. Her dark blue hair matched the emotion that came from the drumroll of the rain, and she was muttering something that sounded like "pitter, patter" as she approached us. Maka held me tightly in caution, and she spoke to me.  
"Hey, Soul… I think that's Lluvia from the Elements," she said.  
"She does fit the description…"  
"HEY!" the blue-haired boy next to us shouted. "ARE YOU ONE OF THE ELEMENT GUYS?!"  
"I see two armed people in front of me… I should take them out…" Lluvia looked at us blankly.  
"YOU'RE NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO ME! ANSWER MY QUESTION!" Black Star shouted again.  
"Lluvia wants to finish with these Shibusen students, but a two-on-one hardly seems fair…"  
"Heh, don't worry, Llu," a guy's voice sounded behind us. Maka turned around to see a patch of clear sky over a guy with black and white hair, a red jacket, and a katana tied to his belt. "I'll take half," he said with a wink at Maka.

-

Black Star and I looked back at Soul and Maka and understood they were going to take on Totomaru, the man who appeared behind us. Then we looked back at Lluvia and noticed she was staring at my meister…  
"Fine, Lluvia will do as Totomaru says," the blue-haired girl in front of us closed her parasol and lunged at us.  
"HA! THOUGHT YOU'D DO THAT!" Black Star shouted and threw me at her, but I felt I just passed through a waterfall when I pierced her skin. "WHA—?! SHE'S MADE OF WATER?!"

A scream behind us signaled Maka was fighting Sol already, and an orange flash meant he was using his fire to try and scorch the blond meister. Black Star ran to where I landed, but got scalded in the chest by a blast of boiling water that sent him back.  
"Ya… think I can't handle a little heat…?" he said as he stood up and removed his burnt jacket to show his well-developed torso. "C'MON! LET'S SEE IF YOU CAN HANDLE THE GREAT BLACK STAR!"  
"Lluvia's scalding stream didn't affect the boy in front of me…? And now he's trying to attack me…" the blue-haired girl turned into water again as my meister went through her and landed by my side. She then added, "He's an opponent. I can't be wavered by his looks… I must finish him…"  
"Oh, yeah? TSUBAKI, KUSARI-GAMA MODE!" my meister shouted and extended his hand at me. As my body changed from a shuriken into a chain-scythe, I noticed a red gleam of jealousy in Lluvia's eyes.  
"Tsubaki? That's a girl's name… He can't mean… a lover?" her body started to exhale vapor, and her voice was getting louder. "A RIVAL IN LOVE?! THAT I WON'T FORGIVE!"  
I didn't understand what she meant by that, but Black Star was getting pumped as he shouted, "Yeah, that's more like it! Bring it on!"

To be continued... 


	8. Chapter 8 - Teamwork 2

I got excited when I saw the two teams working together like this; Soul and Maka were in the heat of battle against Totomaru, while Black Star and Tsubaki were facing the girl named Lluvia on their corner. I gotta admit, Black Star does have a lot of potential, but he's got the little downside of self-absorption…

"All right, then," he shouted, "Soul Menace!" His right hand gained a powerful electrical charge that came from his soul wavelength as, using the impulse he took from using Tsubaki's chain-scythe as a slingshot, he flew toward Lluvia.  
"My body's made of water, didn't you hear me?" said the blushing blue-haired girl.  
"I DON'T CARE! I'M A GOD!" the blue-haired boy shouted as his hand went through her chest. To both of their surprises, the electrical charge sent by the Soul Menace made Lluvia's body return to a solid state and Black Star's hand, still holding on to her chest, electrocuted her into falling backward.

"Father, is that boy's soul wavelength powerful enough for him to continuously use that kind of attack on his shape-shifting rival?" my Kid asked, sitting in the chair behind me. He and Spirit were once again watching the match, and Spirit took the word this time.  
"Well, Kiddo, the Soul Menace is already an attack that requires the user to output a lot of energy. Black Star's soul, if you notice, is extremely powerful and maybe even inflated by his ego. So, in any case, his fighting abilities and soul wavelength attacks would make him a fearsome fighter that doesn't really need a weapon!" he said.  
"So why's he partnered with that girl?" Kid asked, referring to Tsubaki.  
"I dunno, Kiddo, maybe they see something else in each other~!" I replied before turning back to the screen.

Maka and Soul were struggling to keep up with Totomaru, whose katana attacks were slashing the pigtailed meister's clothes. Totomaru was getting faster by the minute, which meant Soul and Maka _had_ to finish this battle as soon as possible.  
"Soul, I can't take it anymore!" said Maka in a rage. "This guy's really pissing me off!"  
"Oh, and I just _love_ having my meister being shredded to pieces while I'm in her hands," snapped Soul. "Let's get a move on, huh?"  
"SOUL RESONANCE!" the team shouted in unison as their unity sounded like a psychedelic soul jam.  
"Hm, well this makes the thing get better," Totomaru said, changing pose to get ready for the incoming horde of attacks from the scythe-wielding girl.

Maka was spinning her scythe to both attack and defend, while Sol was guarding himself with his sword and countering with flames. Finally the scythe broke through Totomaru's katana and opened a wound in his arm, but Totomaru wasn't about to give up; as soon as the sword broke, he engulfed his body in flames to hold Soul's blade, pull Maka, and punch her in the stomach. She landed several feet away from her enemy, who threw Soul away and jumped on top of her.  
"Too bad we're gonna kill you, girlie…" he muttered as his finger ran up her exposed belly, which twitched due to the tickles. "We could just leave your blue-haired boyfriend and have fun by ourselves…"  
"HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!" Maka shouted as she thrust her knee into Sol's groin and pushed him off. "AND I'M NOT GONNA LEAVE MY PARTNER!"

In the meantime, Black Star was with Lluvia, and he had dropped Tsubaki in the attack. His Soul Menace attacks were blasting into the blue-haired girl, who was screaming underneath him. Finally, he stopped for a second and extended his hand.  
"Tsubaki: Smoke Bomb Mode!" he shouted.  
"Right!" said the busty black-haired girl as she transformed into a black sphere with a rather long fuse, and jumped into her meister's hand, who thrust her into their opponent's throat before jumping off. The smoke bomb exploded and splashed water all around Black Star, but neither Tsubaki nor Lluvia had returned to their human forms. As he looked around, he noticed the smoke from the smoke bomb still lingered in the air, mixed with water vapor into an opaque cloud. He instinctively ran toward the cloud, but couldn't go through the gases.

"Why can't he go through the cloud, Lord Death?" asked Spirit behind me.  
"Well, Spirit-kun, you know how Tsubaki-chan and Lluvia-chan can enter gaseous form?" I started.  
"Lluvia can turn into water vapor and that Tsubaki girl's Smoke Bomb mode makes her be temporarily smoke…" Death the Kid analyzed.  
"Correct, sonny!" I praised. "So, technically, both girls are fighting in a gaseous molecular level!"  
"WHAT!?" both Death Scythe and Death the Kid gaped in surprise and looked amazed at the screen, where Black Star was ramming himself into the cloud. Then Spirit added "So that's why Black Star can't enter the cloud…"  
"But water vapor's still a conductor, right?" asked Kid, meditating. "Can't that boy just send his soul wavelength through the cloud to reach either his weapon or his opponent?"  
"That's precisely what Black Star-kun's doing right now, Kiddo~!" I interrupted.

The electric shock actually reached both girls, and they separated the cloud into their respective human bodies, which fell unconscious to the ground. Ignoring Tsubaki completely, the last member of the Star Clan ran toward his opponent and knelt beside her.  
"We're… gonna take… your soul…" said Black Star panting but with a self-satisfied smile. "Now…"  
"Why d'you have to kill me?" interrupted Lluvia with tears in her eyes.  
"Duh, you're on Shinigami's list," replied the spiky-haired boy, rolling his eyes.  
"B-but… I…" Lluvia was stuttering and her cheeks were a deep shade of crimson.  
"Shut up already! Your soul's MINE!" Black Star raised his hand to deal the finishing blow, but Lluvia, with all her effort, sat up and kissed him deeply.

Tsubaki, still on the floor and offended because her meister hadn't worried about her in the least during the battle, saw the pair kissing a few yards in front of her and gasped in surprise and full indignation as her eyes started filling up with tears. She rolled to turn her back on her meister; she obviously wasn't good enough for him and wasn't going to waste any more time with him. She turned into a smoke bomb and exploded to disappear from the scene; she reappeared in a nearby forest and, leaning on a tree, let out a sob and started to cry.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Soul shouted as, half-transformed, he stabbed Totomaru in the back. Surprised, his opponent turned around to look at the boy who felled him and disappeared, leaving his soul behind. Smirking, Soul helped Maka to her feet and grabbed the Kishin egg that was beside them.  
"Thanks, Soul," Maka said with an honest smile. "That was harder than I expected…"  
"Yeah, but we still beat him. Where are Black Star and Tsubaki?" Soul looked around until he saw the shirtless blue-haired boy kissing his opponent. "Aww, ain't that adorable?"  
"What the hell?!" Maka's jaw dropped, flabbergasted. "What the—? Where the—? How the—?"  
"Should we help him?" Soul suggested, chuckling.  
"Nah, we got two others to—" Maka interrupted herself, for the ground beneath her began to shake. "Soul, eat that soul and get ready for a second one!"  
"Roger that, Maka!" Soul Eater gulped down the Kishin Egg and, drooling for another, fully transformed back into a scythe.

Sol, a chubby man with green hair and a monocle, rose from the earth and attempted to grab Maka's legs, but the latter jumped and dodged his hands.  
"Ooh, such a lovely girl I'm about to fight~!" said he as he dove back into the ground.  
"Huh?" Maka looked around anxiously. "Oh, crap! He's a pervert!"

"I wanna learn that technique!" Death Scythe-kun shouted with a happy expression that vanished as soon as I gave him a Reaper Chop.  
"Father," Kid called from behind me. "Is Black Star going to finish off Lluvia?"  
"Dunno, Kiddo~! It looks like her love for Black Star is making her regret her actions, though!" I answered.  
"So she _does_ love him?" Spirit asked, recovering consciousness. "That's a bit of a surprise…"  
"Oh, look! Black Star seems to have convinced Lluvia to help finish off Sol!" Kid stood up and pointed at the screen. True enough, a waterfall eroded through Sol and was slowly destroying him, but Maka and Soul were impatient and, through their Soul Resonance, sliced both Lluvia and Sol at the same time and not giving Black Star enough time to react.

"Phew! That takes care o' that!" Maka smiled while her white-haired partner swallowed both souls at the same time, making his cheeks bulge while the Kishin eggs were in his mouth; she turned to Black Star and noticed he had dropped to his knees, still staring at the spot where Lluvia was standing mere moments ago. "C'mon, Black Star, that wasn't gonna work…"  
"Don't be mean to him, Maka; he just lost the only girl who'll ever love him!" Soul whispered into his meister's ear.  
"And what about Tsubaki?" she whispered back with a smile.  
"I… can't breathe…" Black Star muttered with a broken voice.  
"That usually happens when you lose a loved one, Star-man," Soul chuckled, but Maka interrupted him.  
"No… I can't breathe, either…" her eyes widened. "Soul… I think Aria's here!"  
"You mean the wind guy?" the white-haired boy asked nervously as a hulking brute appeared behind him holding a relatively small figure on his shoulder. When Soul noticed Maka's frightened expression he muttered, "…and he's right behind me, huh?" He instinctively turned around to try and at least defend himself, but the giant slapped him aside with ease.  
"Oh, crap…" Maka muttered while gasping for breath.  
"TSUBAKI?!" Black Star shouted when he recognized the person Aria was holding on his shoulder.  
"Black… Star…" the black-haired girl groaned from Aria's shoulder. "Go away…"  
"What?" the blue-haired boy was befuddled at his weapon partner but turned to Aria. "WHAT'VE YOU DONE TO HER?!"  
"Soul… Get back here…" Maka, breathless, extended her hand toward Soul, who returned to his feet and ran toward her until a gust pushed him back. "I… need… air…" she muttered before fainting to the ground.  
"MAKA!" Soul yelled before partially transforming himself and rushing toward Aria again, but Aria moved away and shot airspaces at him. Dodging and slashing as much as he could, Soul managed to reach Aria and stabbed him in the chest.  
"How sad that a weapon has to fight for its wielder… and here I thought you'd lose your power as well…" commented Aria as he opened his palms and placed them over Soul. Soul, who stabbed his enemy five more times, stopped when he realized his lungs were empty and a sphere of energy was quickly draining him.

I immediately shut off the screen, ignored Kid's protests, and told Spirit to follow me.  
"What're you gonna do?" he asked.  
"As you already saw, both teams are unable to fight anymore, Spirit," I answered gravely.  
"So I'm gonna go and save the day, huh?" he implied quickly.  
"Exactly. Have fun~!"

-

Spirit transformed both of his arms into scythe blades as he rushed out to meet Aria, who looked as if he was mourning both felled teams.  
"Aria, your soul has to be taken!" he shouted.  
"A tragic turn of events, if you ask me…" the hulking brute replied, turning to face the Death Scythe.

The difference in power was negligible, for Spirit's abilities matched Aria's in terms of power and speed. Aria kept teleporting to try and evade the red-haired man's attacks, but Spirit kept catching up with him and slashing. Black Star opened his eyes for and instant and, understanding the situation quickly, stood up and shouted "Soul Menace—nah, PLANET DESTRUCTION CANNON!" as soon as the giant appeared in front of him. After a swift palm strike, his hand sent out a powerful beam of electricity that emanated from his very soul and stunned Aria. Black Star immediately lost the little air that was in his lungs and, convulsing, he fainted; Spirit, taking advantage of the distraction the blue-haired meister had provided, transformed completely and, spinning, ran through Aria's body and left the Kishin egg exposed.

Death Scythe looked down at his daughter and her friends, and picked them up to take them to the hospital. This had been a test to prove the teams' ability to work together, and they blew it: Soul and Maka got three of the four souls, but Black Star and Tsubaki acquired none (Spirit absorbed the last soul). But all of them would have more chances to improve their teamwork—Spirit would have to talk to Sid into adding that into a future lesson...


	9. Chapter 9 - Separation

I woke up feeling a little lightheaded when I realized I was in Shibusen's hospital wing. At my left was Soul sitting in his hospital bed and reading a pianist magazine; at my right was Black Star, unconscious but peaceful-looking. For half an instant I was afraid he'd died, but I remembered he's too "awesome" to let himself be killed—and I noticed he was breathing. That's when I remember what had happened: Black Star, Tsubaki, Soul and I had gone to face the Elements that were on Shinigami-sama's list; Soul and I had defeated Totomaru and Sol, and Black Star had done something to Lluvia… but I don't remember much after that. I think we managed to face the fourth Element, Aria, or something like that; whatever it was, it must've been really powerful to leave Black Star in that unconscious state.

At that moment both of my parents entered the hospital wing; this was the first time in ages that I'd seen them together.  
"Mama! Papa!" I hugged them both, though I was rather reluctant to say hi to my father. "How long have we been here?"  
"Three days, Maka-chan," answered my dad. "Lord Death had to send me to finish off Aria cuz he was a bit too tough for you kids."  
"Thanks, Papa," I replied. Of course, that should've been what happened, since Black Star couldn't have handled that guy even if he was at full power.  
"Maka," my mother said, "aren't you going to tell me which of these kids is your partner?"  
"Oops, goume ne, Mama," I apologized in Japanese, my mother's native language, and led them to Soul, who was listening in now. "Mama, this is Soul Eater."  
"Nice to meet you, Soru-kun," my mother had the same little slip of the tongue I had had the first time I met with my partner. "What's your weapon form?"  
"I'm a scythe, ma'am," said Soul, holding my mother's hand and gently kissing her in a very elegant way. "Hopefully, THE next Death Scythe," he added with a grin that showed his shark teeth.

Mama smiled wryly; apparently, she also thought scythe boys weren't to be trusted. I silently reassured her with a smile that Soul had so far done nothing that deserved him not to be trusted. Mom obviously understood, and she turned to see my other friend waking up. Tsubaki's eyes were red and a little puffy, but she kept smiling as Mom greeted her.

"Hello, Mrs. Albarn," she greeted back.  
"What's your name, sweetheart?"  
"Tsubaki Nakatsukasa," the busty black-haired girl replied. "I'm a Demon Arm."  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Mom asked, confused.  
I answered in Tsubaki's stead. "It means she's a whole lot of weapons, Mama! She's a kusari-gama, shuriken, smoke bomb, and a ninja blade!"  
"Whoa! That's a whole arsenal there!" Mama laughed, echoing Soul's words. "Do you have a partner?"

Papa, Soul and I let Tsubaki answer that question; it'd be rude not to. But Tsubaki's face flushed into a deep crimson color and said flatly: "No."  
Soul and I looked at each other, astonished, and then Soul was about to comment something about her partnership with Black Star, but I noticed something in her stare that made me shush him before he even said the first word. Tsubaki denied Black Star? Their partnership, which seemed to be going great, was suddenly cut short by Tsubaki, who seemed to love him more than as a friend. Black Star gave a little twitch in his bed but remained asleep; he must've sensed something from her.

Mama told Papa that she wanted a private word with me, and she took me out of the room into the hallway.  
"Maka-chan," she said, her tone becoming serious. "Has your father done anything lately?"  
By anything she meant cheating on her, so I nodded grimly. Mama sighed again, muttering "I don't think I can take it anymore."  
"You… you what?" My mother was saying she was tired. Could it be that she's finally—?  
"I'm gonna tell him," my mother confirmed one of my dearest wishes, "at dinner. We're gonna be eating tonight at Death Café, and I'm gonna tell him there, in front of everyone."  
"Wow, Mama! That's great!" I cried, clapping my hands. I always knew my mother was strong, but to stand up to her husband and tell him that everything was finally over made my opinion of her rise above everything else.  
"Of course," she added sadly, "we'll have to present the case to the court, have the judge decide on your custody and all that jazz."  
"Don't worry, Mama! I'll make sure I stay with you!"  
"That's my girl," my mom said, tears filling her eyes, and she hugged me like she'd never done before: It was more than motherly love; it was more of a friendship we'd shared through all these years, and understanding that we had to be inseparable now.  
Smiling, she and I went back to the hospital room. Tsubaki was looking at her unconscious now ex-partner, with tears rolling down her cheeks. Soul was also looking at Black Star, but his expression looked more like admiration; apparently my father had told them exactly what he'd done to save our asses, but that didn't matter. Since we could now go home, Soul and I left for our apartment, where I prepared for the occasion.

"So, Maka," Soul called from outside my room, "what're your mom and you planning?"  
"Waddaya mean?" I asked while I put on a longer skirt than usual.  
"You looked like something good was about to happen, Maka," his voice seemed knowing.  
"Something will," I confirmed. "But you needn't worry about that; it won't affect you."  
"Okay," I imagined Soul smiling as he said that. "By the way, what's up with Tsubaki?"  
"I dunno… I'll go and visit her before going with my parents, 'kay?"  
"Cool. I'll talk to the Star-man as well."

After I finished putting on my favorite red dress, I said my goodbyes to Soul and walked over to Black Star and Tsubaki's apartment, expecting to meet the egotistical boy yelling hello to me. The crying Tsubaki that met me, though, made me think that her situation was even worse than I feared.  
"H-hello, M-Maka-chan…" she said, wiping her eyes. "C-come in, come in…"  
"Where's Black Star?" I asked, but she just started crying like a baby. "What happened? Is he dead? WHAT?!"  
"I… I… saw…" Tsubaki's crying didn't allow her to talk, so she just fell to her knees, her body shaking uncontrollably with her sobs.  
"Tsubaki!" I kneeled beside her and held her, patting her back while doing so. After what felt like an eternity, her shaking stopped, and I could see clear tear tracks lining her cheeks.  
"S-sorry, Maka…" she stammered. "B-but Black Star… I can't believe he'd just…"  
"What?" the missing piece filled the puzzle. "Are you talking about that mission with the Elements?"  
"He… left me for her…" she said, more tears submerging her indigo eyes, her cheeks turning red. "He didn't even worry about me…"  
"Black Star? He wouldn't do that…" I squeezed my brain into remembering exactly what had happened three days ago, but it all seemed blurry. I didn't see much, since Soul and I were fighting Totomaru and later Sol, but as far as I could've told, Black Star was worried enough about his partner, and had only ignored her temporarily to deal the finishing blow… except, now that I think better about it, he didn't. When we were done with Totomaru, I'd seen Black Star kissing Lluvia; Tsubaki was nowhere to be seen. Would Black Star have been enough of an asshole to cheat on Tsubaki?

"I'm sorry about this, Maka," Tsubaki said. "I wouldn't normally be telling you this—"  
"Don't worry about it, Tsubaki," I interrupted her. "When Black Star wakes up, I'm gonna kick his egotistical ass for doing this to you."  
"N-no! I just—"  
"What, you wanna be the one to do it? It's fine with me."  
"N-no," the black-haired weapon shook her head again. "I just want to call it quits with him… B-but don't tell him!"  
"I'll bet he's gonna notice when you're with another partner, Tsubaki," I answered. But I kept my word not to tell her blue-haired partner anything. "What're you gonna do, anyway?"  
"I'm… I'm going home…" she muttered. "Y-you know, to Japan…"  
"What?! B-but you've got friends here! Don't go!" I hugged her to show her that I told the truth. "If you wanna, you can stay in my room until everything goes back to normal!"  
"Thanks, Maka," the Demon Arm smiled for the first time in my visit, and she stood up, full of energy. "Tell Soul I'm going to stay with you guys for a while, 'kay?"  
"Sure!" I said, happy for Tsubaki's new resolve. "And don't worry; you'll see everything's gonna be fine!"  
Tsubaki ran to her room, probably to pack her stuff and move into our apartment, so I said goodbye to her, remembering that I was due to meet my mother for dinner.

Mother looked very serious, but my father looked happy as he came to dinner with us. The meal was delicious, but the tension on the table seemed to sour even the ice cream I had for dessert; Mama was glaring at Papa while they talked about everyday things. Finally she raised a hand to shut him up.  
"Spirit," she said, a stern expression forming in her face, "do you love me?"  
"O-of course, Kami!" he answered, taken aback by the sudden question. "With all my heart, and you know it!"  
"Then why've you been cheating so much on her, Papa?" I spat, unable to control my rage.  
"I—"  
"Don't worry, Maka, I've known he's been doing this for far more than you remember," Mama answered, snarling at Papa Death Scythe.  
"I…" my father seemed lost for words. "I love you and Maka more than anything else, Kami!"  
"You should be a bit more grateful, you little cockroach, for me saving you from Stein's clutches..."  
"B-but I am! I l-love you and Maka above everything else!"

The more he repeated that phrase, the feebler an excuse it seemed; Mama's expression was turning fiercer the more they argued in front of me. Their voices were rising over the rest of the conversations in the restaurant, and even some of the maids had stopped to stare at the scene. Finally, one of the maids came beside me and whispered to my ear.  
"Parents about to get a divorce, huh?" she asked.  
"Hopefully," I breathed back.  
"Good," the girl said. "At least we won't have to hear them arguing like this again."

Her comment made me look at her; her hair was long, straight and dirty-blonde, her eyes were blue, and there was something dangerous in her look—as if she had grown in the streets and was just getting used to living along with the rest of society. I was unsure as to whether I should give her a Maka Chop, or agree with the unknown woman. She seemed to notice my hesitance and, grinning, walked away to another girl with shorter and lighter hair that could've been her sister.

My mother diverted my attention back to her by saying, "Let's go, Maka. We don't need this bastard anymore." She grabbed my hand and led me out of the restaurant, leaving Spirit Albarn crying like Tsubaki did this afternoon.


	10. Chapter 10 - My Star

I tried to talk to the Star-man when Maka had told me to, but the kid looked more prepared to have his own requiem than to wake up. So I spent the next four days visiting his deathbed, hoping he'd wake up; he did after a whole week after the Elements mission. I had just entered the room when he yawned and shouted "SOUL, MY MAN! HOW LONG WAS I ASLEEP?!"  
"A whole week, Black Star," I replied with a serious face. "You had us worried!"  
"Worried about what? You know I'm too awesome to die!" his smile widened and he stood up in his own bed, making yet another one of his heroic poses. "Say," he added after looking at his surroundings, "where're Maka and Tsubaki?"  
"Maka's all right," I said. "Actually, her mom just asked her old man to get divorced!"  
"Whoa! I didn't expect—okay, I did," Black Star chuckled as he got down from his bed and followed me around the DWMA's grounds and into the streets. Another boy's voice called us from behind.  
"Soul and Black Star! Could you come here, please?" he said.  
"Wait, ain't that Ox?" asked Black Star while he and I went to the geek with two hair pillars on his shiny bald head. "'Sup, Ox-kun?!"  
"Is it true?" Ox Ford asked.  
"Is _what_ true?" I asked back.  
"That you took on the Elements and defeated them, of course!" the geek said impatiently. "C'mon, Soul, everyone's talking about it!"  
"Oh," I said. Of course, that's what everyone was talking about; I mean, it's not like gossip about Black Star and Tsubaki hadn't reached my ears yet. "Right… Well, I'm pretty happy because I now am 20 souls and one witch away from being a Death Scythe!"  
"Speaking of Death Scythes," the wannabe god interrupted me. "Did you hear about Maka's old man?"  
"Of course, Black Star," Ox rolled his eyes. "That's old news, man."  
"ARE YOU CALLING ME SLOW?!" the blue-haired meister bellowed in the bald one's face. "WELL, EXCUSE ME, BUT I'VE JUST GOTTEN OUT OF THE HOSPITAL WING!"  
"So then you don't know…?" the other boy asked.  
"I don't know what?" Black Star was confused.  
"That Tsubak—" I punched Ox in the mouth—and, hopefully, knocked out a few of his teeth—to prevent him from telling the Star-man the horrible news. Laughing nervously, I said in a tremulous voice "Ah, don't worry, Star-man! It's prob'ly nothin'!"

We kept walking to Death Café to get the blue-haired hothead some nourishment before going back home. When we entered, a maid with short blond hair, bright blue eyes and interestingly big breasts attended us.  
"Yo, welcome to Death Café, blahblahblah… ARE YOU GONNA HAVE ANYTHING?!" she said in a voice in the pitch of a piccolo. Black Star seemed interested in this girl's personality.  
"Well I, the Great Black Star, am gonna have a god-worthy cup of Puerto Rican coffee!" he said proudly. Then he looked at me and asked, "Ya gonna have anything, Shark-Teeth?"  
"'Shark-Teeth'?" I repeated under my breath, but I said loudly "Of course, Star-man! Imma have a…" my stomach grumbled, begging for souls and a big plate of anything for breakfast. "I want the large order of scrambled eggs! Straight up on the pepper!"

Maybe it was because we'd adopted a horrible version of gangsta douchebags or because our orders were equally ridiculous, but the girl laughed for thirty seconds straight before, still chortling, she left to hand the order over to the people in the kitchen while another maid that looked somewhat similar to the previous one led us to our table. There she noticed Black Star's shoulder's star.  
"Nice tattoo," the maid said in a more oboe-ish voice.  
"Oh, this isn't a tattoo," replied the blue-haired boy with a wide smile. "This is actually a birthmark!"  
"Really?" both the maid—whose nametag read "Liz"—and I asked in unison. Uninterested, the maid left us alone. I said "How'd you get a birthmark to look that cool?"  
"Duh, 'cuz it's _my_ birthmark!" he laughed and crossed his arms. "No, really… It's just that I'm the last surviving member of the Star Clan…" he then told me about his deceased family, which were apparently a clan of assassins and mercenaries; about how Lord Death had issued the order to terminate the whole Star Clan; how Professor Barrett, Sid, had rescued him when he was just a baby; how he wasn't sorry his family had died, etc.

The maid named Liz had brought us our order when Black Star was about to finish and had listened to the last part of Black Star's story. Noticing her, I started eating my food for politeness; the blue-haired meister beside me wrapped his tale up and started drinking his 32 ounces of coffee. Once we were both done with our food, the maid took our stuff away; when she returned, she talked to Black Star.  
"You know, we have a drinking contest later tonight," she said. "My sister wants to see you there."  
"Are you insane?!" I blurted out. "It's illegal for kids to drink!"  
"Challenge accepted!" Black Star contradicted me. His glare at me surprised me even more than what he said next: "And don't ever ever ever ever ever ever ever _ever_ EVER call me a kid again, Soul."  
I took that as a dismissal, so I said "Well, good luck, then, Black Star…" and I left for my apartment.

Maka and Tsubaki were giggling together and talking about something I wasn't interested in when I entered the apartment's living room.  
"Hey, Soul!" my meister greeted. "Did you talk to Black Star today?"  
"Nope," I lied. "He's still dead as a doornail."  
"He's not dead! He can't be dead!" Tsubaki cried, tears filling her eyes.  
"It's just an expression, Tsubaki!" Maka consoled her. Then she stared at me, as if I hadn't had any tact in saying that; the whole thing reminded me of a cliché novella my mother had once told me about.  
"Well, anyway…" I muttered and went to my room.

The rest of the day was completely Black Star-free, which made me worry. Did that mean he hadn't gone to his apartment yet and, instead, was working out or maybe picking yet another fight? Or maybe he did, found out that Tsubaki had dumped him and went to look for her… I still couldn't believe she left the poor kid when, at 1am, all three of us heard an even louder "YAHOO!" than usual and the door got knocked in.  
"WELCOME TO MY BIG SHOW!" Black Star shouted, his face redder than usual, and the smell of something not unlike tequila filled the room. He didn't notice Tsubaki was there, nor did he stare into her flooding eyes again.  
"Black Star, what're you doing here?!" asked the pigtailed girl as I tried to stop his drunken berserking.  
"What does it look like I'm doing here? I'm here to get my partner!" he shouted and, carrying me while I was still trying to pin him down, he went to Tsubaki.  
"Black Star!" Maka rushed in front of us and, stepping between Tsubaki and us, she slapped the drunken blue-haired boy in the face. "Haven't you realized what you've done to her?!"  
"I'm gonna get my partner, you plank! Step aside!"  
"'PLANK'?! NOW YOU'VE DONE IT! MAKA CHOP!"  
"Nononononono wait! AAAAGHH!" I screamed because she used a bigger book than usual and Chopped both the Star-man and I to the ground. Recovering my consciousness before Black Star , I asked "Why'd you hit me too?!"  
"Sorry, Soul, but you sometimes call me that, too," she said contemptuously.  
"Yeah, but you usually hit me at the precise moment I say it."  
"Uhh… guys?" Tsubaki interrupted our bickering and pointed at Black Star, who was standing up again.  
"Sorry, Tsubaki," Maka said, "but I'm only defending you this much. You'll have to tell him about how you feel yourself."  
"B-but I…" the busty black-haired girl stammered.  
"Tsubaki… let's go," said Black Star, grabbing his weapon partner's hand.  
"No, Black Star," she said in a soft voice.  
"Hm?" the blue-haired meister looked at her, confused but still drunk.  
"I don't wanna go with you," she stated. "I'm sorry, Black Star, but I can't have you doing that again!"  
"Doin' wha'?"  
"What you did with Lluvia!" her voice broke and a tear rolled down her left cheek. "I don't want you to cheat on me like that!"  
"I… cheated on you?" his question sounded innocent, even honest. Maybe Black Star didn't realize what he had done after all… "B-but I wouldn't do that, Tsubaki-chan!"  
"Don't you 'Tsubaki-chan' me!" the busty girl shot, her cheeks turning a fortissimo tone of sharp red. "You're drunk! You wouldn't be saying this normally!"  
"Hmm…" It was amazing how Black Star could remain standing, considering the smell of alcohol in his breath was still very potent. "Well, then… lemme say something else I wouldn't normally say: I find you hot and sexy and I like you!"  
"WHAT?!" Maka, Tsubaki, and I asked in perfect unison. I kinda saw that coming; Maka seemed to find that a little too sudden. But Tsubaki's expression was the priceless one here: Her whole face flushed into a shade or two of a deeper crimson than Black Star's drunk-colored cheeks, her mouth dropped open, and her tears burst out like a waterfall.

"Exactly how much did you drink?" asked Maka, making sure her estimation was anything close to the real thing.  
"Oh, I drank a whole yard of vodka, and won against three guys in tequila shots…" he said matter-of-factly.  
"How the hell are you standing?" I asked, amazed at his ability.  
"Duh, I'm a friggin' god!" he smiled before turning to Tsubaki. "Fine then, Tsubaki-chan… I'm terribly sorry, ok?"  
"You're gonna have to do much more than that to win her back now, Black Star," said Maka with a serious and rather pompous voice.  
"Fine," he said. He then sank to his knees and, to everyone's surprise, started to beg like a dog. "I'm terribly sorry, Tsubaki Nakatsukasa! Wouldst thou give me thy royal pardon to this god who knows nothing but embarrassment to thee?"

"He really _is_ drunk," I whispered into Maka's ear while the Star-man started kissing his partner's feet.  
"Yup," she replied with half a smile. "So tomorrow, when he wakes up with a hangover, none of us is gonna tell him about tonight, 'kay?"  
"Sure," I agreed.  
"O-okay…" Tsubaki looked incredibly pleased with herself, being adored by a drunken blue-haired idiot like Black Star was right now. "Black Star… let's go home…"  
"Yes, Ma'am!" he said, immediately straightening up. I then realized something was wrong with him: his face turned a nasty shade of green that clashed with his blue hair—and made him look like an alien from an 80's movie—and his knees shook alarmingly. Maka and I reacted just in time to catch him as he fainted; we looked at Tsubaki, whose face had turned white at the sight of Black Star in such a vulnerable state.

"Should we dispose of him, Tsubaki?" Maka asked, looking at her friend.  
"I… I want to take him, if you don't mind, Maka…" the Demon Arm replied. She took the now sleeping Star-man from us and, with great effort, carried him out.  
Once she was gone, I turned to my meister and asked her, "D'you think this might've caused some brain damage to him?"  
"I hope not," was her reply. "They've been through a lot lately… And Tsubaki really missed him, regardless of what he'd done… She even acquired a new mode; did I tell you?"  
"A new what?" I asked.  
"She missed him so much; she turned one night into him!" Maka said, her cheeks turning rosy. I knew why she blushed: she was probably waking up one morning, expecting to see Tsubaki in her sleeping bag before preparing to go to school, when she found Black Star instead.  
"Well, ain't that adorable?" I chuckled. "Wish _you_ could turn into me like that…"  
"That's not funny, Soul!"


End file.
